Vocal + accoustic guitar performance at home. Need speaker help.

[NepinMn]

Hi ASRers,

My wife plays accoustic guitar and sings during small gatherings at home. I would appreciate any speaker recommendations. We have a Behrinher mixing board and I'd like to get some active speakers that can take the output from the mixing board so that I don't have to worry about getting a separate amp.

Ideally, I'd like to get rid of my current home theater speakers (they are pretty basic polk towers) and use these actives as my home theater fronts when they're not used for live performances. But that's not necessarily a very important goal. Also, they don't need to look pretty.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't have a recommendation but there are lots of active/powered PA speakers. PA speakers are generally more physically and electrically rugged than home speakers/monitors. Most of them should be designed for mounting on a tripod stand.

Most active monitors don't have grills and it could be "risky" moving them around.

 

[LTig]

Hi ASRers,

My wife plays accoustic guitar and sings during small gatherings at home. I would appreciate any speaker recommendations. We have a Behrinher mixing board and I'd like to get some active speakers that can take the output from the mixing board so that I don't have to worry about getting a separate amp.

Ideally, I'd like to get rid of my current home theater speakers (they are pretty basic polk towers) and use these actives as my home theater fronts when they're not used for live performances. But that's not necessarily a very important goal. Also, they don't need to look pretty.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

It's usually not a good idea to use hifi equipment for sound reinforcement because it's not made for permanently loud SPL. For singing and acoustic guitar I'd like to recommend a small 2 way PA speaker with 8" woofer and a 1" or 3/4" horn tweeter. I used FBT Jolly 8ba (together with a 12" RFT sub) for my E-drum and small gigs with reproduction of singing, drum and bass guitar. The sound was very good, but I would not use it (as is) for my living room. Maybe with a good EQ ...

EDIT: the current model would be the FBT J 8a. In the download section you'll find specs and manual.

 

[raindance]

JBL Eon or IRX series is a good bet. Eon 612 or IRX 108. You can always start with one and add a second later.

 

[Duke]

Hi ASRers,

My wife plays accoustic guitar and sings during small gatherings at home. I would appreciate any speaker recommendations. We have a Behrinher mixing board and I'd like to get some active speakers that can take the output from the mixing board so that I don't have to worry about getting a separate amp.

Ideally, I'd like to get rid of my current home theater speakers (they are pretty basic polk towers) and use these actives as my home theater fronts when they're not used for live performances. But that's not necessarily a very important goal. Also, they don't need to look pretty.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

This sounds like a really fun project!

Would this be for indoor or outdoor performances? Outdoors is arguably a more demanding environment, as there is no contribution from reflections.

Can you describe where your wife would normally be with respect to the speakers? Would she be using them as monitors, in addition to reinforcing her voice and guitar?

Would she be elevating them on stands? That makes the speakers' job of projecting to the audience easier, but you lose boundary reinforcement from the floor so the tonal balance becomes thinner.

How critical is the requirement that the speakers be active?

Do you have a center channel speaker and/or subwoofer(s) for your home theater system?

Do you have a ballpark budget in mind?

Do you have a local Guitar Center or somesuch where you could try different speakers?

 

[NepinMn]

Thank you for your kind replies and the specific speaker model recommendations.

Would this be for indoor or outdoor performances? Outdoors is arguably a more demanding environment, as there is no contribution from reflections.

Can you describe where your wife would normally be with respect to the speakers? Would she be using them as monitors, in addition to reinforcing her voice and guitar?

Would she be elevating them on stands? That makes the speakers' job of projecting to the audience easier, but you lose boundary reinforcement from the floor so the tonal balance becomes thinner.

How critical is the requirement that the speakers be active?

Do you have a center channel speaker and/or subwoofer(s) for your home theater system?

Do you have a ballpark budget in mind?

Do you have a local Guitar Center or somesuch where you could try different speakers?

Hi Duke, these will be strictly indoor. I don't foresee her using these as monitors. We would probably mount them on stands. I'd like actives so that I wouldn't have to even think about amps. I do have a center channel but no subs. I'd like it to cost well below 1000$ if these are to be strictly be for sound reinforcement but could go higher if these cam be used as home theater speakers as well.

 

[NepinMn]

don't have a recommendation but there are lots of active/powered PA speakers. PA speakers are generally more physically and electrically rugged than home speakers/monitors. Most of them should be designed for mounting on a tripod stand.

Most active monitors don't have grills and it could be "risky" moving them around

After reading your post and some speaker recommendations from other posters, it seems like trying to double these as home theater speakers will probably not be practical. I appreciate your reply.

 

[NepinMn]

It's usually not a good idea to use hifi equipment for sound reinforcement because it's not made for permanently loud SPL. For singing and acoustic guitar I'd like to recommend a small 2 way PA speaker with 8" woofer and a 1" or 3/4" horn tweeter. I used FBT Jolly 8ba (together with a 12" RFT sub) for my E-drum and small gigs with reproduction of singing, drum and bass guitar. The sound was very good, but I would not use it (as is) for my living room. Maybe with a good EQ ...

EDIT: the current model would be the FBT J 8a. In the download section you'll find specs and manual

Any particular reason for the horn tweeters? Also, did you use a sub? Did you mount the speaker on a stand?

 

[NepinMn]

JBL Eon or IRX series is a good bet. Eon 612 or IRX 108. You can always start with one and add a second later.

Thank you for the recommendations. Both these speakers seem very rugged and would work for my purpose. I also really like the idea of starting with one and adding a second one later if needed.

 

[Duke]

Thank you for your kind replies and the specific speaker model recommendations.


Hi Duke, these will be strictly indoor. I don't foresee her using these as monitors. We would probably mount them on stands. I'd like actives so that I wouldn't have to even think about amps. I do have a center channel but no subs. I'd like it to cost well below 1000$ if these are to be strictly be for sound reinforcement but could go higher if these cam be used as home theater speakers as well.

Thank you for the in-depth reply.

I can't think of any PA speakers anywhere near your price ballpark that would go deep enough to do a good job with home theater bass. On the other hand if you were to hand over the bottom two octaves of your home theater system to a dedicated subwoofer, a good light PA speaker could handle the rest.

Brands that come to mind include QSC, Yamaha, JBL and Yorkville.

My guess is that the solution is likely to be something carried by Guitar Center or Sweetwater or Vintage King or somebody like that. I think you're more likely to find a salesman at some such place who can suggest a good dual-duty active speaker. I suggest you call at least one place that carries QSC, that was my favorite of the bunch back in the day because they had the best horn designs, but I'm not up to date in this market anymore.

 

[LTig]

Any particular reason for the horn tweeters? Also, did you use a sub? Did you mount the speaker on a stand?

Horn tweeters due to efficiency.
I used a sub as I wrote, but you don't need one for guitar or singing (no low frequencies).
I mounted them on stands by K&M.